About the work

Watercolour Painting: While visiting Simpson Island on Lake Superior, I found this white birch tree (Betula papyrifera) standing alone in a clearing in the middle of the forest. The old tree was covered with a lichen commonly called Old Man’s Beard. Some branches had so much lichen coating hanging from them that the bark and branches were hard to distinguish. With a greenish-gray tint in colour, the lichen grows abundantly around the lake’s north shore, creating a mysterious atmosphere as it waves in the breeze. The lichen does not harm the trees but increases the forest’s biodiversity. Lichens are found worldwide and are a form of symbiosis between fungi and green algae. Lichen is extremely sensitive to environmental disturbance, especially air pollution. The hair-like texture was used as a bandage and treatment for wounds long before gauze and modern antibiotics.